Several drawback filers and importers on March 23 filed a court challenge of CBP’s new policies on drawback procedures under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act. They say CBP violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it changed drawback requirements via a guidance document issued in February without allowing for notice and comment on what amount to regulatory changes.
CBP must allow for a face-to-face meeting with importers charged with Section 1592 violations before imposing penalties, the Court of International Trade said in a decision issued March 26. Finding in favor of a textile importer contesting more than $6 million in penalties and unpaid duties, CIT held that short phone calls between CBP and the importer’s representative did not meet 19 USC 1592’s requirement for an oral hearing.
States with laws or executive orders on net neutrality to counter the FCC’s December recision order should expect lawsuits, law experts and others said in interviews. Suits seem more likely to come from industry than the FCC, but industry may wait for the right moment, they said. In two states that passed net neutrality bills, ILEC associations said they won’t sue.
States with laws or executive orders on net neutrality to counter the FCC’s December recision order should expect lawsuits, law experts and others said in interviews. Suits seem more likely to come from industry than the FCC, but industry may wait for the right moment, they said. In two states that passed net neutrality bills, ILEC associations said they won’t sue.
The following new requests for antidumping and countervailing duty scope rulings were filed with the Commerce Department since International Trade Today's last update:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 12-18:
House of Representatives appropriators want to know whether the Commerce Department will be able to make prompt determinations on steel and aluminum tariff product exemptions if the agency receives 4,500 applications, as it projected. The Appropriations subcommittee that handles Commerce's budget heard from Secretary Wilbur Ross on March 20. Ross said that the fiscal year 2019 budget request does ask for more staffing. "We believe we can handle the influx," he said.
A CBP investigation into allegations of evading antidumping duties for steel garment hangers turned up "substantial evidence" of evasion, the agency said in a March 15 final determination. The allegations named Brooklyn Knights Trading of Philadelphia; GL Paper Distribution of Miami; Garment Cover Supply of Orlando; Newtown Supply NY of Woodside, New York; Casa USA of Carson, California; Subcos Percha De Metal Factory of Rosemead, California; Nice Guy Trading of New York; and Masterpiece Supply of San Francisco. Those allegations, which were filed by M&B Metals under the Enforce and Protect Act provisions, were consolidated into one case (see 1708170024).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 5-11:
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., raised concerns Thursday about what he views as Republican-backed efforts to attach the Marketplace Fairness Act (S-976) to the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill. S-976 and House companion Remote Transactions Parity Act (HR-2193) would allow states to collect sales taxes from companies even if they have no physical presence in the state (see 1704280036). The omnibus was also viewed as a potential vehicle for passing the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum legislative package (HR-4986), FAA authorization renewal and other priorities (see 1802270055, 1803010056 and 1803060046). “I'm extremely concerned to hear Congressional Republicans are plotting to sneak” S-976's language into the omnibus, Wyden said in a statement. “Apparently voting for a Republican representative in Congress is voting to allow New York and California to tax Oregonians, Pennsylvanians and Texans. If passed, this would create an underground, nationwide, privatized tax-collecting bureaucracy. This is particularly shocking as only two years have passed since” then-President Barack Obama signed the 2016 Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which made permanent the Internet Tax Freedom Act (see 1602240069). Wyden was one of several lawmakers who filed an amicus brief last year urging the Supreme Court not to review the South Dakota v. Wayfair online sales tax case while Congress decides how to legislate on the issue (see 1712080050). The high court accepted the case with oral argument slated for April 17.